Luca's pov
I had a million things on my schedule today; a new firearm shipment to inspect, a meeting with the commissioner of customs and border protection, two more meetings with some allies, a subsidiary club inspection and this is just to list a few.
I was booked and busy for the day but what I was currently doing had no relation to my tight schedule in the least.
I leaned back into the plush leather seat of my Bugatti, watching my stepsister walk out of her sixth business establishment just this morning and from the gloomy look on her face, I could tell she had been rejected once again.
The stubborn airhead had stuck to her word and she hasn't stepped foot in Rico's since she discovered I was the new owner.
This was one of the reasons why I never understood women, they acted rashly and solely on emotions, not caring if the choices they make in the throes of their feelings, worsen things for them. It was risky and self destructive.
She began moving again and I followed her with my car, the pace matching her forlorn steps. I was irritated and amused and puzzled on how her brain worked. It was nothing I've ever seen before, the women I was used to never did anything that threatened their comfort and were compliant with the idea of dependency.
Whatever suspicions I had of Cara in the beginning were officially debunked. She was a woman who had scoffed in the face of a thousand dollars and refused the respect my name could give her.
A first for me.
The sun shone brighter, casting a luminous glow to her form and my fucking heart raced at the sight.
Fuck she was beautiful, so beautiful it fucking hurt to look at her.
Gripping the steering wheel with both hands, I raised my eyes to the car, clenching it shut as a sigh left me.
What on God's green earth was I doing?
I opened them again and glanced back at Cara, if I ever thought my obsession with her was bad then I had fucking underestimated how bad. It became worse after that night she sucked me off and nearly had me dead from the earth shattering pleasure. She was all I thought about, she owned my waking thoughts, owned my last thoughts before bed. I was reminded of her at any hour of the day and everywhere, it was frustrating.
She stopped in front of a burrito shop and stared wistfully at it, the sad longing on her face pulling at my heartstrings even though I was certain I didn't own one.
I suddenly felt the need to buy her a hundred burrito shops.
My phone vibrated in my pocket, snapping me out of my insane thoughts. I pulled it out. "What," I snapped.
"I'm sorry boss, I- er I can call later if you're busy." Grigori stuttered into the phone.
I sighed in irritation with myself. I really needed to get a grip. "It's fine Grigori, what do you have for me?"
A couple of papers rustled into my ear before he spoke again, "I finally have substantial information on the bratva although I still have to do more in depth digging. They're really secretive with their business."
I took in the news, agreeing with the fuckers being secretive bastards. They were known for their proficiency in gathering information but made it difficult for anyone else to do the same with them.
"I could report all I have so far today if you're not busy."
I stared at Cara. "I'm not. Meet me at Il Fantasmo in an hour. I have an inspection to carry out there, we can go over your findings after I'm done."
"Yes boss."
I hung up and continued watching Cara, she was staring from her purse to the burrito shop and back to her purse.
A chuckle pushed out of my lips. She had no financial discipline whatsoever.
I turned on my phone again and dialed Sergio. He answered on the first ring.
"Boss,"
"I'll be leaving Cara into your hands. Don't lose sight of her even for a minute."
"You can count on it boss."
I paused for a moment, reading the conviction in his words. His last mistake was still something I hadn't let go of and the only reason why I didn't punish him for it is because he had brought the bastard to me personally and Cara seemed to have gotten familiar with him. But I wasn't going to accept another mistake.
"I'll take your word for it soldier and I trust you will keep to it."
"Yes, boss." He said without hesitation.
Cara was now going into the burrito shop. "How close are you?" I asked my eyes searching the perimeter for the car I assigned to them. I spotted it parked three shops before the burritos'.
"I want you to head in after her, find the owner and pay him the money I'm going to send to you and tell him to convince the lady in green that she had won a giftcard, I don't care how he does it but he must."
Sergio's answer was delayed and I knew he was stunned and confused but I didn't care.
"I believe you understood that."
"Er… yes boss. I'm on it right now."
"Good," I said before hanging up. I opened my mobile banking app and sent him the sum of one thousand dollars, spared the burrito shop one last glance and drove off for my first real engagement for the day.
***
Il Fantasmo was one of my smaller clubs that was away from the main city. My father had been against its establishment, it was unheard of to build clubs on the outskirts of the city anyway but I had insisted on it and pushed through with it and now the little establishment pulled more revenue than even some of our city establishments. It was my passion project and because I was who I was, it was a successful one too.
I usually made a personal appearance at the place, showing up at random to see the true state of the place and business activities. It kept the staff and the soldier managing it on their toes. Lord knows I hate funny business more than anything.
I killed off the engine of my car and slipped out of it. The manager was already waiting for me at the entrance along with some other soldiers disguised as customers or bouncers. They bowed their heads with respect and I returned their greeting with a nod, immediately getting started on the inspection.
The soldiers followed in apprehension, their uneasy gaze fixed on me as I made the rounds through the place.
Seeing no issues with anything, I nodded my satisfaction and they all looked relieved.
"I want to see the monthly reports from the last time I was here." I said.
"Of course boss." The soldier bopped his head in response, walking closely after me as I headed for the administrative office.
Grigori was already there, sitting on a plush sofa when I got in. I sat on the only single one in the office and adjusted my dress shirt.
Grigori immediately handed me a bulky file. Well that was a lot of information to go through.
"I've arranged them according to dates with the most recent on top." Grigori explained. "There isn't much important information except on the recent attacks but the ones after them get more interesting."
I stared at him with raised eyebrows before going through the contents. It was just like he said. The Russians didn't do much until they decided to fuck with me. "Is there anything important I need to know about?" I said, flipping through the papers.
"About that," Grigori began, his expression turning grim. "I seemed to have discovered the meaning behind the words of the captured soldier. May I?" He said, gesturing to the files.
I handed it to him and he deftly went through the papers before getting the ones at the bottom. I made a mental note to tell him to make the files digitalized next time, these many files were giving me a headache.
Grigori passed the necessary papers to me and I read through them, my frown deepening with each sheet.
"It appears the genesis of it all began with your father. Apparently the retired don had wrong the pakhan and hadn't rectified his mistake."
I mused through the most catching bit, something about killing the pakhan's daughter. My jaw tightened in thought, my father wasn't the type to involve women in his dealings. It was something that had even been a disadvantage to his time as don. He could kill a man in the most gruesome way ever but would never touch a woman. Not after the promise he made to my dying mother.
So what was this news about a killed daughter of the bratva's pakhan?
I set the papers down and rose to my feet, Grigori rising to his as well.
I turned to where the club's manager stood, "you'll have to show me the reports next time." I said, stepping out of the office at once, the two men following closely behind me.
I had some serious talking to do with my father.